Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 10-12 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Exodus 12: 31-32 … 51-52: … [Broken and Believing] ... 31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."
… 50 All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.
My Journal for Today: Reading through Chapters 10-12 of Exodus in my chronological Bible reading plan this morning, I was struck by how deep was the pride of Pharaoh and how patient, yet relentless, was God in doing what it took to show Pharaoh that his pride was the only human element which kept God from getting what the Lord desired – i.e., freedom for His people, the children of God’s covenant promise.
My friend, … do we get this message? God is God; and we are not!! And the only way God is going to prevail in our lives – giving us the blessings of His promises – will only happen when (or IF) we’re willing to yield to His will in humility. Perhaps you remember that little saying my friend, Loretta, who’s now with the Lord, used to say to my wife and me. We called it “Loretta 1: 1,” and she would say, “First obedience, … then the blessing.” And to me, that’s the simple – but very hard to learn – lesson from today’s reading. At least it’s tough for this chronically prideful heart to learn this lesson, which all too often has to be broken by God’s humility training in life. How many times have I had to redo God’s humility lessons, teaching me that it’s so much better – and less painful – for me to CHOOSE, on the front end, to be humble, receiving God’s enlightening, enabling, and empowering grace, freely offered by God to allow me to find and carry out His will for my life? And when I do humble myself, freely and willingly, God is so willing to pour out His grace into my life.
HOWEVER, when, like Pharaoh, I buck up an attitude of pridefulness, thinking, in my mind, “Hey, God, I can handle this one (whatever the life circumstance might be),” I’m in for troubles, testing, and all the tribulations God will have bring into my life before I can get God’s lessons of Prov. 3: 34, James 4: 4-6, and 1st Peter 5: 5-7 [and I really hope, if you don’t have these passages memorized, you will go to them and meditate on them].
Unfortunately, Pharaoh never had the benefit of having learned those lessons, which I have so freely available to me from God’s word (and His truth). But Pharaoh learned – the hard way – that God is seriously into the humility business; and the Egyptian king finally moved from brokenness to belief – through all those plagues and problems – learning to be humble and yield to God’s way and His will.
I hope we all – you and me – learn this lesson from God’s truth and we CHOOSE to obey God’s will and His way, which we most often get from His word, BEFORE we have to be humbled by God’s lessons of trials, tribulations, and temptations, … all those fires of life God often has to use to get our attention and to purify us for His purposes in life. I don’t know about you, my dear one; … but I plan to get in on that obedience business as early and as often as I can so that I can receive – willingly – God’s blessings for my life.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, the more I know of Your will for my life from Your word, I will walk humbly and obediently in Your way. Amen
Showing posts with label humiliation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humiliation. Show all posts
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Monday, December 12, 2011
December 12, 2011 … Exaltation Follows Humility
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 9 - 11 [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: In today’s entry of Strength for Today, John MacArthur helps those who pursue God through his devotional to see from God’s word (in the highlight passages from Phil. 2 above) that Christ’s humiliation in His incarnation, life, and death on the cross, as well as His exaltation (again, see today’s passage) are very powerful and practical examples of God’s economy of justice. It’s really a straightforward formula; but it’s also an infinitely challenging message for all mankind to accept and implement. THE FORUMULA is that when one humbles himself, he will be exalted. Jesus was our earthly model of humility [Phil. 2: 6 – 8]; and in today’s passage [Phil. 2: 9 – 11] we read of Christ becoming our heavenly and perfect example of God’s exaltation out of His earthly and perfect humility.
MacArthur reminds me [us] that the Apostle Peter [in 1st Peter 1: 10 – 12] had pointed to Christ fulfilling the prophesies of the ancient Prophets concerning the Messiah. And the Author of Hebrews wrote of Christ [in Heb. 12: 2], “… Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” So, the Apostle Paul’s purpose in our passage from Phil. 2 was to illustrate, not only Christ’s humble emptying of His majesty in His Incarnation; but also to document His re-entry into heavenly glory as a result of His humiliation on the cross. So it’s worthy of repeating, … Christ, therefore, is not only our human example of humility, He is also our heavenly example of God glorifying anyone who is willing to humble himself and receive God’s Son as Lord and Savior.
That economy and balance of justice is also documented in James 4: 10, where we read, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” And as I’ve documented before, that is the message that was also laid out by Solomon in Prov. 3: 34 and repeated by Peter in 1st Peter 5: 6 … that God gives His grace to the humble but resists the proud. So, Jesus was God’s model of His scale of justice; and His word repeats the lesson often. >>> BUT, do we get it?!
Unfortunately, all too often I’ve had to learn the lesson of God’s economy with regard to humility the hard way. I know the lesson in my head; but my deceitful heart [see Jer. 17: 9] brings me often to a place where God has to teach me humility in the face of my pridefulness. I have to be brought low because I’ve chosen to exalt myself rather than choose to humble self and surrender to my Savior [again see the truth of Jesus’ command in Luke 9: 23]. When will I see - from the heart - that it’s so, so, so much better for me to CHOOSE to be humble and let God exalt me for being like Christ?
Just like Christ, one day as a believing Christian, I (and all Christians) will be lifted up to be with my (our) Lord in Heaven, … not because of anything I will do in humility, … but because of what Christ has already done for me (us) in perfect humility. Oh how I (we) need to meditate on this at this time of year, especially letting this message encourage us in our trials. But as we do so in reading this, we can look forward this month to even more about our Lord; so, … yes, … stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Blessed am I by Your exaltation, Lord. Amen
My Journal for Today: In today’s entry of Strength for Today, John MacArthur helps those who pursue God through his devotional to see from God’s word (in the highlight passages from Phil. 2 above) that Christ’s humiliation in His incarnation, life, and death on the cross, as well as His exaltation (again, see today’s passage) are very powerful and practical examples of God’s economy of justice. It’s really a straightforward formula; but it’s also an infinitely challenging message for all mankind to accept and implement. THE FORUMULA is that when one humbles himself, he will be exalted. Jesus was our earthly model of humility [Phil. 2: 6 – 8]; and in today’s passage [Phil. 2: 9 – 11] we read of Christ becoming our heavenly and perfect example of God’s exaltation out of His earthly and perfect humility.
MacArthur reminds me [us] that the Apostle Peter [in 1st Peter 1: 10 – 12] had pointed to Christ fulfilling the prophesies of the ancient Prophets concerning the Messiah. And the Author of Hebrews wrote of Christ [in Heb. 12: 2], “… Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” So, the Apostle Paul’s purpose in our passage from Phil. 2 was to illustrate, not only Christ’s humble emptying of His majesty in His Incarnation; but also to document His re-entry into heavenly glory as a result of His humiliation on the cross. So it’s worthy of repeating, … Christ, therefore, is not only our human example of humility, He is also our heavenly example of God glorifying anyone who is willing to humble himself and receive God’s Son as Lord and Savior.
That economy and balance of justice is also documented in James 4: 10, where we read, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” And as I’ve documented before, that is the message that was also laid out by Solomon in Prov. 3: 34 and repeated by Peter in 1st Peter 5: 6 … that God gives His grace to the humble but resists the proud. So, Jesus was God’s model of His scale of justice; and His word repeats the lesson often. >>> BUT, do we get it?!
Unfortunately, all too often I’ve had to learn the lesson of God’s economy with regard to humility the hard way. I know the lesson in my head; but my deceitful heart [see Jer. 17: 9] brings me often to a place where God has to teach me humility in the face of my pridefulness. I have to be brought low because I’ve chosen to exalt myself rather than choose to humble self and surrender to my Savior [again see the truth of Jesus’ command in Luke 9: 23]. When will I see - from the heart - that it’s so, so, so much better for me to CHOOSE to be humble and let God exalt me for being like Christ?
Just like Christ, one day as a believing Christian, I (and all Christians) will be lifted up to be with my (our) Lord in Heaven, … not because of anything I will do in humility, … but because of what Christ has already done for me (us) in perfect humility. Oh how I (we) need to meditate on this at this time of year, especially letting this message encourage us in our trials. But as we do so in reading this, we can look forward this month to even more about our Lord; so, … yes, … stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Blessed am I by Your exaltation, Lord. Amen
Thursday, March 24, 2011
March 24, 2011 … Jesus’ Humility In Death
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 8 - ... And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
My Journal for Today: My entry today will be brief … very much to the point. As I read today’s passage, I’m led to reflect on Mel Gibson’s account of Christ’s Passion in the movie he directed, attempting to give us some degree of insight into those hours on the day of Christ’s death on the cross. Though I’m sure it was even worse than Gibson portrayed it, that movie drove home – at least for me - the horrible humiliation to which Jesus exposed Himself, being led unjustly by man, but purposely by God, the Father, to the cruelest form of execution ever devised by mankind – the Roman form of crucifixion. It was God’s Lamb being led to the slaughter as a sacrificial offering for the sins of mankind; and it was my sin [and yours] which nailed our Lord to that cross.
What our Lord, Jesus Christ, endured – unjustly – should be the ultimate eye-opener for all believers when it comes to the essence of what humility is all about and what our Messiah endured, as the suffering servant, the “man of many sorrows,” which had been prophesied in Is. 52: 13-14 and all of Isaiah 53 … [Please go, with the links provided, and read these citations!].
Just a few years ago about this time, we were memorializing my earthly father, Bob Berry, at his funeral. In the latter months of his life, my Dad suffered much physical – and likely emotional – agony. Yet, as many came by at the funeral to express their condolences to my sister, myself, and the rest of the family, they commented on how our father held on to an attitude of grace right to the end in spite of the myriad of physical ailments he had endured in the last two years of his life. And that attitude was stamped indelibly for me some years before (in 1988 to be exact) when at 72 years of age, my Dad prayed to receive Christ as his Savior/Lord. Up to that time, my father had been a very self-centered man, often feeling sorry for himself, given life’s circumstances, which had been rough for him. But after Christ came into his life, his Christ-like humility was displayed readily – especially in those latter years when physical maladies drove him to reside in a nursing home. With all he went through, my Dad held to the hope of 1st Cor. 15: 37 – 54 [also linked here for your meditation] … that one day he would have a new body and be lifted up by His Lord to glory. We talked of it often as I visited my dad in that nursing home; and my earthly father became a living and dying example for me of God’s grace being poured into his soul by the humility with which my father lived out in his later life.
Those are models of humility I will always have in my life … first my Lord, as today’s verse declares, who humbly died for my sins … and then my earthly father, who humbly dealt with so many physical maladies with grace and dignity in the face of so much personal humility. I’m blessed to have been shown the way to humility with such vivid examples so that I may see and live it in my own life.
My Prayer Today: Lord, may I always walk in Your shoes when it comes to humility. Amen
My Journal for Today: My entry today will be brief … very much to the point. As I read today’s passage, I’m led to reflect on Mel Gibson’s account of Christ’s Passion in the movie he directed, attempting to give us some degree of insight into those hours on the day of Christ’s death on the cross. Though I’m sure it was even worse than Gibson portrayed it, that movie drove home – at least for me - the horrible humiliation to which Jesus exposed Himself, being led unjustly by man, but purposely by God, the Father, to the cruelest form of execution ever devised by mankind – the Roman form of crucifixion. It was God’s Lamb being led to the slaughter as a sacrificial offering for the sins of mankind; and it was my sin [and yours] which nailed our Lord to that cross.
What our Lord, Jesus Christ, endured – unjustly – should be the ultimate eye-opener for all believers when it comes to the essence of what humility is all about and what our Messiah endured, as the suffering servant, the “man of many sorrows,” which had been prophesied in Is. 52: 13-14 and all of Isaiah 53 … [Please go, with the links provided, and read these citations!].
Just a few years ago about this time, we were memorializing my earthly father, Bob Berry, at his funeral. In the latter months of his life, my Dad suffered much physical – and likely emotional – agony. Yet, as many came by at the funeral to express their condolences to my sister, myself, and the rest of the family, they commented on how our father held on to an attitude of grace right to the end in spite of the myriad of physical ailments he had endured in the last two years of his life. And that attitude was stamped indelibly for me some years before (in 1988 to be exact) when at 72 years of age, my Dad prayed to receive Christ as his Savior/Lord. Up to that time, my father had been a very self-centered man, often feeling sorry for himself, given life’s circumstances, which had been rough for him. But after Christ came into his life, his Christ-like humility was displayed readily – especially in those latter years when physical maladies drove him to reside in a nursing home. With all he went through, my Dad held to the hope of 1st Cor. 15: 37 – 54 [also linked here for your meditation] … that one day he would have a new body and be lifted up by His Lord to glory. We talked of it often as I visited my dad in that nursing home; and my earthly father became a living and dying example for me of God’s grace being poured into his soul by the humility with which my father lived out in his later life.
Those are models of humility I will always have in my life … first my Lord, as today’s verse declares, who humbly died for my sins … and then my earthly father, who humbly dealt with so many physical maladies with grace and dignity in the face of so much personal humility. I’m blessed to have been shown the way to humility with such vivid examples so that I may see and live it in my own life.
My Prayer Today: Lord, may I always walk in Your shoes when it comes to humility. Amen
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